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Gov. Tom Wolf will let a $6.6 billion supplemental state budget bill become law without his signature, thus allowing needed state aid to flow to financially strapped school districts, Pennsylvania State University and other state-related universities, county agricultural extension offices and rural hospitals, he announced Wednesday.

The school districts now will receive a half-year’s worth of the basic education subsidy under the same distribution formula used in the previous fiscal year. This bill provides an additional $200 million in state aid to school districts and a 5 percent boost for higher education.

The final budget for fiscal 2015-16 totals $30 billion, $800 million less than a compromise budget deal that fell apart last December. It doesn’t contain increases in the state sales and income taxes and a new severance tax on gas production that Mr. Wolf sought to generate new revenue.

Mr. Wolf’s action ends a nine-month budget impasse that began last July, but the Democratic governor warned that Pennsylvania’s problems with a built-in $2 billion revenue deficit and downgrades from credit rating agencies are not over.

The governor’s decision not to sign the bill sent to him by Republican lawmakers is known informally as a pocket veto. It hasn’t been done since Gov. Milton Shapp in the 1970s.

The governor said he could not sign the budget bill since it is out of balance by nearly $300 million and the math does not add up. He threatened to veto that bill last week, but a number of Democratic lawmakers urged him not to do so. Mr. Wolf said he was not swayed by concerns about a successful veto override in the House and Senate with help from some Democratic lawmakers.

“I believe it’s time to move on,” said Mr. Wolf speaking about the budget impasse. “The real battle is in the 2016-17 budget.”

Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Plymouth Twp. and Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-119, Newport Twp., had said they would vote for an override to keep local schools open.

“There is (now) no threat of any school closing across the state which would have been a national embarrassment,” said Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald.

The governor’s action will curtail the strife that has overwhelmed schools and social programs, but this budget doesn’t solve the deficit, provide a fair funding formula for schools or property tax relief, said Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich, D-114, Taylor.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-34, Bellefonte, agrees Pennsylvania has a deficit problem. However, Mr. Corman said that cutting spending is also an option to fix the problem.

“We shouldn’t use schools as leverage,” said Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-120, Kingston, about the overdue budget. “We shouldn’t use social service nonprofits as leverage.”

Mr. Wolf said he plans to veto an accompanying fiscal code bill, saying there are constitutional problems with it and concerns about its impact on environmental programs. A fiscal code veto could mean problems for school districts receiving state aid to reimburse building construction costs, GOP legislative leaders said.

The governor’s action came several hours after officials from school districts in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties lobbied at the Capitol for an end to the impasse, saying the lack of state aid was putting area schools in jeopardy of closing.

The budget bill also provides:

■ Funding for Barnes-Kasson Community Hospital in Susquehanna County.

■ No specific state reimbursement for schools, counties and human services nonprofits to cover interest costs on loans taken out to get them through the impasse.

■ No restoration of Corbett-era cuts to county human services funding.

■ Status quo funding for The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton.

■ $1 million for children’s advocacy centers.

Pennsylvania has operated under a partial $24 billion budget since December when Mr. Wolf vetoed $7 billion from an earlier budget bill sent to him. The governor and various legislative caucuses have been unable to agree not only on tax hikes, but also changes to the state liquor stores, cutting public pension costs and school property tax relief — all issues which remain on the table.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

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